Bhavnagar: A supposed reconciliation meeting over an intercaste love marriage allegedly turned violent in Bhavnagar’s Iscon Mega City after a 24-year-old youth and his parents were assaulted and his wife was allegedly kidnapped by her own family members. The incident occurred inside the same residential society where State Cabinet Minister Jitu Vaghani resides.

According to victim Yash Hiteshbhai Upadhyay, a Brahmin, he had married a woman from the Patel community about a month ago, reportedly against the wishes of her family. He alleged that after the marriage the woman’s family gradually approached his family on the pretext of reconciliation. Yash alleged that the woman’s father, Parvatbhai Moradia, president of the Bhavnagar District Self-Financed School Governing Body and director of Vidyamanjari Gyanpeeth Sihor, invited him and his parents for a “settlement lunch” at his residence.

However, shortly after they arrived, around 15 men allegedly stormed the premises and launched an indiscriminate assault. His mother is said to have sustained a fractured leg and was rushed to Sir T. General Hospital later, while his father, a heart patient, was also reportedly beaten despite pleas for restraint. During the chaos, Yash alleged that his wife was gagged with a cloth and forcibly dragged into a black Swift car with tinted windows and no number plate. The assailants allegedly threatened the family, warning that they had “chosen the wrong house” to marry into.

Talking to the media about the incident, Yash said, “Her uncle was saying that they are D-staff people, nothing will happen wherever you go, no action will be taken, and your complaint will never be registered.”

Political pressure allegations linked to influential connections

The name of State Cabinet Minister Jitu Vaghani has been reportedly mentioned in connection with the political influence allegations made by the victims and community representative.

Yash alleged that his father-in-law had “good relations” with Jitu Vaghani. “In the same society, Jitubhai Vaghani lives. My wife used to say that my father has good relations with Jitubhai Vaghani. They are Patels, and we are Brahmins, so they support them that way. During previous settlement talks, my family used to receive indirect calls in the name of Jitubhai, or Mansukh Mandaviya, or their PA… I personally did not receive calls, but my family received calls in their name.”

A Brahmin community representative and advocate, Darshanaben Joshi, also alleged that, due to the family’s connections with senior political figures the couple had faced police harassment since the marriage and that even after such a serious incident, there was a delay in FIR registration.

“I believe this (political influence in this case) is there. I am a lawyer, when two consenting adults marry, police generally do not harass them like this. But here they were tortured unnecessarily; even their aunt, who had to fly abroad, was kept here for hours. Police from there came to Dhasa for statements; all this shows unusual pressure,” she said. DeshGujarrat